American Indian Studies Course Listings

Lower Division Course

M10. Introduction to American Indian Studies. (5)

(Same as World Arts and Cultures M23.) Lecture, three hours; discussion, one hour; activity, one hour. Survey of selected Native North American cultures from pre-Western contact to contemporary period, with particular emphasis on early cultural diversity and diverse patterns of political, linguistic, social, legal, and cultural change in postcontact period. P/NP or letter grading.

Upper Division Courses

M118. Student-Initiated Retention and Outreach Issues in Higher Education. (4)

(Same as Afro-American Studies M118, Asian American Studies M168, and Chicana and Chicano Studies M118.) Lecture, four hours. Exploration of issues in outreach and retention of students in higher education, especially through student-initiated programs, efforts, activities, and services, with focus on UCLA as case. May be repeated twice for credit. Letter grading.

C120. Working in Tribal Communities: Introduction. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Through readings, discussion, and Native guest lecturers, students learn to participate within Native American communities engaged in political, social, and cultural processes of change and preservation. Development of proposal for Native nation-building project. Concurrently scheduled with course C220. Letter grading.

C121. Working in Tribal Communities: Preparing for Fieldwork. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Through readings, discussion, Native guest lecturers, and project participation, introduction to rules of conduct and skills necessary to successfully work or carry out community service projects for Native American communities and organizations. Concurrently scheduled with course C221. Letter grading.

C122SL. Working in Tribal Communities: Service Learning. (4)

Seminar, one hour; fieldwork, four hours. Enforced requisite: course C121. Recommended: course C120. Participation in community service learning project within Native American communities and organizations where students are mentored and supported by faculty members, other students, and project directors toward completing assigned service learning tasks and contributing to project activities. May be repeated with consent of instructor. Concurrently scheduled with course C222SL. Letter grading.

C130. California Indian Strategies for Contemporary Challenges. (4)

Seminar, three hours. Through readings, discussion, and Native guest lecturers, introduction to contemporary issues and processes of self-directed social change and political, cultural, legal, and economic processes of nation building in contemporary California Native communities. Concurrently scheduled with course C230. Letter grading.

140. Federal Indian Law and Policy. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Through readings, discussion, and Native guest lecturers, introduction to fundamental concepts and history of federal Indian law and policy. Investigation of contemporary policies and legal issues and exploration of Native responses to policy and law. Letter grading.

C145. Contemporary Indigenous Nations. (4)

Seminar, three hours. Introduction to topics on contemporary indigenous nations, including social movements, social and cultural change and continuity, nation building, law and justice relations, economic development, education and socialization, international relations, comparative policy, colonialism, migration, national and social identities, and other issues and social cultural processes, seen as distinct from ethnicity, race, class, and nation, with focus on indigenous communities that have maintained self-government, territory, and culture. Investigation and search for analytic and policy patterns that give greater understanding and knowledge about current conditions and social and cultural processes of indigenous nations. Concurrently scheduled with course C245. Letter grading.

158. Nation Building. (4)

Lecture, three hours; fieldwork/research, nine hours. Limited to junior/senior American Indian Studies majors. Examination of historical interplay of federal policies with tribal cultures that has shaped political development of American Indian tribal nations. Current developments within Indian nations, including restructuring government, developing economies, and asserting cultural sovereignty to be subject of research, study, and required community-based projects. Letter grading.

M161. Comparative American Indian Societies. (4)

(Same as Sociology M161.) Lecture, three hours. Requisite: course M10 or Sociology 1. Comparative and historical study of political, economic, and cultural change in indigenous North American societies. Several theories of social change, applied to selected case studies. Letter grading.

CM168P. Perspectives on Health of Native North Americans. (4)

(Same as Anthropology CM168P.) Seminar, three hours. Recommended preparation: some knowledge of medical anthropology and/or history and contemporary situation of first peoples of North America. Examination of different perspectives related to health and healthcare of Native North Americans (within present boundaries of U.S. and Canada) in relation to cultural, social, political, and economic aspects of changing historical context. Concurrently scheduled with course CM268P. P/NP or letter grading.

C170. California Indian History. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Introduction to overview of California Indian history, specific tribal community histories, and/or contemporary California Indian history through readings, discussion, and Native guest lecturers. May be repeated for credit with topic change and consent of interdepartmental chair. Concurrently scheduled with course C270. Letter grading.

C175. Cultures of Native Southern California. (4)

Lecture, three hours. Introduction to Southern California indigenous societies through readings, discussion, guest lecturers, and direct community participation. May be repeated for credit with topic and/or instructor change and consent of interdepartmental chair. Concurrently scheduled with course C275. Letter grading.

C178. California Experiences in Native Cultural Resource Management. (4)

Seminar, three hours. Exploration of creation and implementation of laws that affect cultural resource management in California, such as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), AB 978 (California NAGPRA), American Indian Religious Freedom Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), from applied standpoint. To understand goals and challenges of these laws, examination of series of cases from California sites. Concurrently scheduled with course C278. Letter grading.

180. Introduction to and Practicum in Native American Languages. (4)

Lecture, three hours; laboratory, one hour. Development of ability to converse, read, and write at elementary level in Native American languages. Introduction to both phonological and grammatical structures, vocabulary, and cultural patterns of using language as symbolic guide to culture. May be repeated with language change and approval of interdepartmental chair. Letter grading.

187. Special Topics in American Indian Studies. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Variable topics selected from following: Myth and Folklore of Indian Societies; Contemporary American Indian Literature; Social Science Perspectives of American Indian Life; Law and American Indian; History of American Indians (cultural area); Dance and Music of American Indians (cultural area); American Indian Policy. Consult Schedule of Classes for topics and instructors. May be repeated twice for credit. Letter grading.

195. Community Internships in American Indian Studies. (4)

Tutorial, two hours; fieldwork, eight hours. Requisite: course M10. Limited to juniors/seniors. Internship in supervised setting in community agency. Students meet on regular basis with instructor and provide periodic reports on their experience. Designed to integrate theory and practice through experiential learning to gain firsthand knowledge of diversity, complexity, and variety of needs of American Indian communities. May be repeated for maximum of 8 units. Individual contract with supervising faculty member required. P/NP grading.

197. Individual Studies in American Indian Studies. (2 to 4)

Tutorial, three hours. Limited to juniors/seniors. Individual intensive study, with scheduled meetings to be arranged between faculty member and student. Assigned readings and tangible evidence of mastery of subject matter required. May be repeated for maximum of 16 units. Individual contract required. P/NP or letter grading.

199. Directed Research or Senior Project in American Indian Studies. (2 to 8)

Tutorial, one hour. Limited to juniors/seniors. Supervised individual research or investigation under guidance of faculty mentor. Culminating paper or project required. May be repeated for credit. Individual contract required. P/NP or letter grading.

Graduate Courses

M200A. Advanced Historiography: American Indian Peoples. (4)

(Same as History M200W.) Lecture, 90 minutes; seminar, 90 minutes. Introduction to culture-histories of North American Indians and review of Indian concepts of history. Stereotypical approach to content and methodologies related to Indian past that is interdisciplinary and multicultural in its scope. Letter grading.

M200B. Cultural World Views of Native America. (4)

(Same as English M266.) Seminar, three hours. Exploration of written literary texts from oral cultures and other expressive cultural forms—dance, art, song, religious and medicinal ritual—in selected Native American societies, as these traditional and tribal contexts have been translated into contemporary literary texts (fiction, poetry, essay, and drama). Survey, from secondary sources, of interdisciplinary methodological approaches taken from literary analysis, structural anthropology, folklore, linguistics, and ethnomusicology. May be repeated for credit with instructor and/or topic change. Letter grading.

M200C. Contemporary Issues of American Indians. (4)

(Same as Anthropology M269 and Sociology M275.) Seminar, three hours. Introduction to most important issues facing American Indians as individuals, communities, tribes, and organizations in contemporary world, building on historical background presented in course M200A and cultural and expressive experience of American Indians presented in course M200B. Letter grading.

201. Topics in American Indian Studies. (4)

Discussion, three hours. S/U or letter grading.

M202. Qualitative Research Design and Methodology for Indigenous Communities. (5)

(Formerly numbered 202.) (Same as Health Services M202 and Nursing M221.) Seminar, three hours. Introduction to some key theoretical themes in American Indian studies and exploration of methods that can be used to incorporate them in research on American Indian cultures, societies, languages, and other issues. Quantitative methods (design, appropriate use), with emphasis on qualitative research methods, ethics, and special considerations in conducting research in American Indian country. Design of research and exploration of feasibility of researching topics. Letter grading.

C220. Working in Tribal Communities: Introduction. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Through readings, discussion, and Native guest lecturers, students learn to participate within Native American communities engaged in political, social, and cultural processes of change and preservation. Development of proposal for Native nation-building project. Concurrently scheduled with course C120. S/U or letter grading.

C221. Working in Tribal Communities: Preparing for Fieldwork. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Through readings, discussion, Native guest lecturers, and project participation, introduction to rules of conduct and skills necessary to successfully work or carry out community service projects for Native American communities and organizations. Concurrently scheduled with course C121. S/U or letter grading.

C222SL. Working in Tribal Communities: Service Learning. (4)

Seminar, one hour; fieldwork, four hours. Enforced requisite: course C221. Recommended: course C220. Participation in community service learning project within Native American communities and organizations where students are mentored and supported by faculty members, other students, and project directors toward completing assigned service learning tasks and contributing to project activities. May be repeated with consent of instructor. Concurrently scheduled with course C122SL. S/U or letter grading.

M228. Seminar: Indian Law—Tribal Legal Systems. (4)

(Same as Law M528.) Seminar, two hours (15 weeks). Study of historic and contemporary legal systems of selected tribes, with emphasis on relationships among law, religion, and social order. Letter grading.

C230. California Indian Strategies for Contemporary Challenges. (4)

Seminar, three hours. Through readings, discussion, and Native guest lecturers, introduction to contemporary issues and processes of self-directed social change and political, cultural, legal, and economic processes of nation building in contemporary California Native communities. Concurrently scheduled with course C130. S/U or letter grading.

M238. Indian Law Clinic: Legislation. (5)

(Same as Law M428.) Lecture, three hours. Students provide nonlitigation legal assistance to Native American tribal nations, mostly in California. Clinic services include development and modification of tribal legal codes and constitutional provisions, development of tribal courts and other dispute resolution processes, and drafting of intergovernmental agreements. Cross-cultural representation, legislative drafting, and intergovernmental negotiation skills stressed. Letter grading.

C245. Contemporary Indigenous Nations. (4)

Seminar, three hours. Introduction to topics on contemporary indigenous nations, including social movements, social and cultural change and continuity, nation building, law and justice relations, economic development, education and socialization, international relations, comparative policy, colonialism, migration, national and social identities, and other issues and social cultural processes, seen as distinct from ethnicity, race, class, and nation, with focus on indigenous communities that have maintained self-government, territory, and culture. Investigation and search for analytic and policy patterns that give greater understanding and knowledge about current conditions and social and cultural processes of indigenous nations. Concurrently scheduled with course C145. S/U or letter grading.

261. Comparative Indigenous Societies. (4)

Lecture, two hours; discussion, two hours. Designed for graduate students. Investigation of detailed historical and contemporary ethnographic analyses of social change and cultural continuity within indigenous nations, primarily of U.S., but elsewhere also. Discussion of theories of change, comparative methodologies, and case materials. Letter grading.

M267. Indian Law. (5)

(Same as Law M267.) Lecture, three hours (15 weeks). Special legal status of American Indians and Indian tribes and tension between moral/legal claims and political forces. Sources and scope of federal, state, and tribal power on Indian reservations; property law concepts unique to Indian tribes and Indians; rights of American Indians in relation to federal, state, and tribal governments and federal trust relationship to Indians. Letter grading.

M267A. Federal Indian Law II. (3)

(Same as Law M267A.) Lecture, three hours. Special topics in Indian country jurisdiction and issues of Indian property rights, including land, water, cultural property, and hunting and fishing, as well as tribal economic development. Consideration of international law treatment of indigenous rights. S/U or letter grading.

CM268P. Perspectives on Health of Native North Americans. (4)

(Same as Anthropology CM268P.) Seminar, three hours. Recommended preparation: some knowledge of medical anthropology and/or history and contemporary situation of first peoples of North America. Examination of different perspectives related to health and healthcare of Native North Americans (within present boundaries of U.S. and Canada) in relation to cultural, social, political, and economic aspects of changing historical context. Concurrently scheduled with course CM168P. S/U or letter grading.

C270. California Indian History. (4)

Lecture, four hours. Introduction to overview of California Indian history, specific tribal community histories, and/or contemporary California Indian history through readings, discussion, and Native guest lecturers. May be repeated for credit with topic change and consent of interdepartmental chair. Concurrently scheduled with course C170. S/U or letter grading.

C275. Cultures of Native Southern California. (4)

Lecture, three hours. Introduction to Southern California indigenous societies through readings, discussion, guest lecturers, and direct community participation. May be repeated for credit with topic and/or instructor change and consent of interdepartmental chair. Concurrently scheduled with course C175. S/U or letter grading.

C278. California Experiences in Native Cultural Resource Management. (4)

Seminar, three hours. Exploration of creation and implementation of laws that affect cultural resource management in California, such as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), AB 978 (California NAGPRA), American Indian Religious Freedom Act, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), from applied standpoint. To understand goals and challenges of these laws, examination of series of cases from California sites. Concurrently scheduled with course C178. S/U or letter grading.

375. Teaching Apprentice Practicum. (1 to 4)

Seminar, to be arranged. Preparation: apprentice personnel employment as teaching assistant, associate, or fellow. Teaching apprenticeship under active guidance and supervision of regular faculty member responsible for curriculum and instruction at UCLA. May be repeated for credit. S/U grading.

596. Directed Individual Studies. (4 to 8)

Tutorial, to be arranged. S/U or letter grading.

598. Research for and Preparation of M.A. Thesis. (4 to 8)

Tutorial, to be arranged. Preparation of research data and writing of M.A. thesis. S/U grading.